United They Stood; Depraved They Fell

Chapter 2: A National Conspiracy and a Headless Horseman

14

NOV/16

In 1812, after the initial match against Maedison, Geofferson, Uncle Sam, and the National Debt, our four anti-heroes decided their next move before going back to the White House would be to capture the USS Constitution, which was docked nearby under the command of Andrew Jaekson.

They infiltrate the ship, and Hanzo goes straight for the level below deck where thirty cannons and about a dozen sailors were resting. He attacked, slaughtering all of the sailors (the youngest of which was 20). This massacre was just another easy task for Hanzo. Meanwhile, on the main deck, the rest of the party found Jaekson, and Jack McDonough created a force cage around him and Jaekson. By now, Jack had become more barbaric than intelligent, and he easily grappled his foe. Jaekson put up a good fight, however, until Jack and the rest of the party decided to negotiate with him. They invited him to join them in their fight against President Maedison and the National Debt. The promise of power was very convincing, and Andrew Jaekson decided to join them and give control over the USS Constitution.

The remainder of this chapter finds our heroes at the Brandywine Creek between Baltimore and Philadelphia, in the fall of 1777. Under normal circumstances, the party would be asked to fight as infantry or as bombardiers in a battle that would eventually become a tactical victory for the British. But our heroes had distinguished themselves from the very start of the war, so their senior officers had a few special assignments for them.

Most of the party was asked to travel to Fort Ticonderoga to assist Henry Knox in delivering dozens of reclaimed cannons to Cambridge, Massachusetts (the distance from the fort to Cambridge is about 300 miles, which is about a four hour drive for those of us in modern times). The journey was treacherous, as it was filled with monsters, some of which were the stuff of legend. In this session, they encountered and fought the Headless Horseman just 50 feet before crossing a covered bridge. It was a tough fight, but eventually the party fought their way through the vorpal sword swings and the flaming pumpkin attacks and destroyed the fiend. It is worth mentioning that the journey would have also had the characters encounter wampus cats, the Thunderbird, and even Sasquatch.

While most of the party was traveling to Henry Knox's position, three heroes skilled in espionage and stealth, Hanzo, Oliver, and Drake, were taken aside and given a special mission from General Wodgington himself. They were instructed to deliver a box of papers to the convict transport ship Charlotte in the New York Harbor. Oliver remembered from his father's stories that the King's Watchman have been looking for what they called the Templar treasure, which was hidden by their opposing faction, the Masons. Some time ago, the Watchmen got hold of a single, brief clue: The secret lies with Charlotte.

Naturally, the Watchmen spent many hours seeking this "secret" by searching through cemeteries and family records, but to no avail. Oliver, who had also informed Hanzo of what he knew about the Watchmen, the Masons, and the treasure, was naturally intrigued by the supposed coincidence that they were delivering a box of papers (so they were told) to a ship with that same, enigmatic name.

As the three rogues were traveling, they opened the box and found, beneath the papers, a small, ornate pipe made in ivory and wood. The trio, while still planning to carry out their mission, wanted to find someone who could make a replica of this piece so they could deliver the replica but keep the original.

In a small town just outside of New York, they found a craftsman who could perform the job. It turned out the craftsman was James Maunrow, who happened to be a Mason and thus was aware of the significance of the pipe. He had a little chat with the trio of rogues and discovered that they were each ultimately against the British, as well as the King's Watchmen (with Oliver having a personal vendetta against the Watchmen). Maunrow agreed to create the replica, and informed our heroes that he would discuss with other high masons (such as George Wodgington, Bengamin Fraenklin, and Paul Reviere) about the possibility of including them into the intellectual ranks of the Free Masons.

It should be noted too that on the stem of this mysterious pipe was carved a riddle. It was written as follows:

The legend writ,
Distain effected,
The Key in silence undetected.

Fifty-five in iron pen,
Mr. Maetalack can't offend.

In the cover of night, Hanzo, Oliver, and Drake eventually made their way to the New York Harbor to deliver the box (containing the replica of the pipe instead of the real one). They encountered a couple of military men, but the color of their coats were obscured in the darkness. It eventually became clear that they were British, particularly by their accent. Our heroes tried to obscure their true intentions, but the Watchmen saw through their deceptions and realized what Charlotte in the cryptic clue referred to. Before the three rogues killed them, one of the Watchmen managed to shout, "THECHARLOTTE IS A SHIP!!!" Those were his last words in service to Britain, to the Watchmen, and to his king.

Our heroes ran from other Watchmen, and Drake decided to execute his own daring escape (and make it look as awesome as possible). He managed to climb to the top of a modest mansion, but then he fell through the roof, causing a few servants to search the top floor with lanterns. Hanzo and Oliver were able to hide in a nondescript tavern and inn, and waited for their comrade. Drake quickly escaped the mansion and found Hanzo and Oliver in the tavern, but not before noticing the flags that hung outside the mansion, which bore the Union Jack, but with the addition of a simple watchtower crest in the middle. Drake had managed to crash into an office building of the King's Watchmen.

After hiding in the inn for the night, the trio made the delivery and then snuck into the Watchmen mansion. They didn't find much, except several documents that detailed the efforts made by the King's Watchmen to find the Templar treasure. Although they had discovered the Charlotte, as well as the contents of the recently-delivered box, there was no indication that they had come any closer to finding the treasure or any additional intelligence on the Masons. They had found the clue on the pipe, but could not understand its meaning.

The war continues, and there are battles on many fronts, both public and discreet.